The Labor enquirer., 1887-01-08

constantly diminiShine. new occupations
arse In wL.ch machinery is not part
but In majority Of these occupatiocs
very little Of the higher class Of skill 10
required. The horse railroads furnish
employment to large BODY Of men. and
the better the skin Of the driver. the
greater the saving to the employing cor.
poration; but no apprenticeship is
needed to acquire the ability to drive.
Tie fate Of the wage worker then is,
that he 10 more and more compelled to
work on the basis offs payment for the
time Of service rather than Of skill, ss
the word skill is generally understood.
In certain large sense skill Is required
In all employments. The ditch digger,
generally considered among the leas,
skilliul Of men, can accomplish more in
an hour than man Of greater physical
power can accomplish until he 10 trained
or skilled in the work. but, this kind Of
skill is not counted as q factor in the
matter Of payment for services.
As civilization tends more and more
TO the production Of things with the
least amount Of physical and mental
effort, so 1t tends to bring another class
Of laborers into the wage market. When
cloth was woven bv hand the weaver's
beam required strong man under the
present perfected machinery a girl Of
sixteen or seventeen years of age will
tend from four to eight looms so, the
child Of the wage worker is made to
compete with t.e father. and the wage
Of the man il reduced to the level Of the
wages, paid to the factory girl; for in
this, as In some other. occupations, the
equal lzation Of the payment to men and
women has been reached bv reducing
the wageSefthe man.
This is true not only of textile indus
tries, but in large numbss of the new
occupations'o our large centers. The
employment ofchildren is constantly on
the incre .se. and this army Of little ones
marching, to their work in the early
morning are forced into this system of
child labor as means of making up the
sum total Of the earnings Of the family,
and at the same time, reducing the earn
ings Of the fathers.
The struggle for life, then, in a wage
workers family is not confined to the
struggle Of the father. but extends to
the mother and the children. And
wherever through tile introduction of
machinery, women and children have
been introduced, the total yearly earn
ings Of the family is. as rule. not above
the average Of the earnings of a skilled
mechanic in those occupations where
labor is performed under the old system.
The compostor on daily paper earns
more than a family of four in cotton
mill.
As one Of the results ofthe system OF
child labor and the consequent dspreci-
alton of mans labor in those occupa.
tions, many men are forced into idle
ness. When man presents himself to
the counting room Of cotton mill, seek.
ing employment, he is. met with the
question: "How much ofa family have
you2" Uniformed that he has no fam
ilv,no work can be provided, for the
reason that that system Of industry re-
quires larger proportion Of women and
children than of men.
No statistics have, as vet, been given
Of the number of those who are strug-
Cling for life In the unnamed employ
ments, but the city street with its timer
ant salesman Is evidence that a very
large number Of men. women and chill
dren have been forced from the realms
reproductive industry into the trading
class. Society will soon be forced to
ask the question as to what becomes of
the newsbovs and girls, and the thou
sands Of little ones who are peddling
their cheap wares amidst the filth Of the
streets and the obscenity of men, Into
what 10 they graduate, and does the ed
ucation which they are receiving in
heir vocation fit them to struggle
through the responsibilities Of our civil
izationp -
Charity holds out its hand, and
blessed though this charity NAV be, and
thrice blessed to the giver. will it tend
70 remedy the evil, or remove these
children from the dangers that surround
them now and hereafter2 The wage
worker is doubtless the pioneer Of a
higher civilization, but shall the civil
ICED of our civilization permit all these
obstacles to stand in the way of his pro-
gress2 These difficulties Of his situation
herein described are but part of the
story. He knows nothing Of the bene-
fits which accrue from permanency Of
home or occupation. He is the Arab Of
the times-compelled to constant re-
moval 'his life one vast desert with the
rare oasis Of a public agitation, or pub
lie holiday. combating daily with the
necessities Of that day, without the in
spring hope ofincreasing opportunities
and increasing wealth. He finds that
when through the growth Of population
and the recurrence Of some temporary
period Of so-called prosperity. from the